


One for the Road

by reconquer



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Scars, spoilers through book 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2573816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reconquer/pseuds/reconquer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra’s got two deep scratches running diagonally and down across her cheek. Asami lightly presses her fingertips to them and Korra’s eyelids flutter.</p><p>They mostly heal over but Asami can still see their pale outlines when she leans in close enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One for the Road

**Author's Note:**

> korra would totally be someone who regards scars as keepsakes and just because she has healing abilities doesn't mean that doesn't apply to her own p.s. i love asami  
> title is an arctic monkeys song

The first scar Asami notices is a short, ragged one on her right forearm. It’s pale and stands out starkly against Korra’s dark skin and Asami wonders why she’d never noticed it before.

She figures it’s because her and Korra hadn’t really spent much time together until now. There was always some excuse—Equalists, Mako, whatever. They’ve been spending time together, though. Sometimes Air Temple Island is too much for Korra and Mako was never the sensitive type, so Korra stays over Asami’s.

“What’re you looking at?” Asami jumps a little, startled out of her thoughts.

“I was just wondering how you got that scar.”

“Oh, this?” Korra laughs. “Got this during my earthbending training. Shot a rock at the guy I was sparring with and a piece shattered off on impact. There was a ton of ricochet—I’m lucky it didn’t get in my eyes and blind me.” She looks down at it and rubs it absentmindedly with her thumb.

“It’s my first one. Katara healed all my injuries before they could scar over, but I hid this one. I wanted something to show for it, you know?” 

Asami nods.

 

Asami misses a lot during Harmonic Convergence. While she’s made the best of being a non-bender, it still has its downsides, and missing out on the action and having to be filled in later by a hysterical Bolin is definitely one of them. Especially when a very deeply hurt-looking Mako is standing next to him while avoiding eye contact with her at all costs the entire time.

Korra’s passed out when Asami visits her in the healer’s tent. She wants to be mad—no, she wants to be _furious_ at Korra—but she knows she can’t.  It wasn’t her fault that she lost her memory and it wasn’t her fault that Mako never bothered to fill her in.

Besides, Asami isn’t even sure that she likes Mako that way anyway. She was sad and lonely and scared and so was he and he was there and so was she and she really doesn’t want to think about it anymore.

Korra’s got two deep scratches running diagonally and down across her cheek. Asami lightly presses her fingertips to them and Korra’s eyelids flutter.

They mostly heal over but Asami can still see their pale outlines when she leans in close enough.

 

Asami’s not sure she’s ever cuddled with someone more in her life than she did with Korra while they’re searching for airbenders. It’s all very platonic, of course (of course, it couldn’t be anything else), but the company’s welcome. Keeping watch in the hull of the ship gets lonely at night, and even if the company is Korra drooling on her shoulder, it’s still company.

Korra’s scar collection has grown since Harmonic Convergence. She spots a small one near hear ankle, a sliver running from behind her ear lobe to the edge of her jawline, a few thicker ones on the palms of her hands. Asami’s not sure whether she just hasn’t had time to heal them or if she’s leaving them on purpose, as a souvenir. Something to be remembered by.

Two nights before they land in Zaofu, Asami notices an especially slim one crossing the bridge of her nose when Korra leans in a little too close. She backs off before Asami can inspect it further, hiding her face behind her loose hair and apologizing quietly. The night before they land in Zaofu she notices one branching off from her upper lip a split second before she kisses her.

Korra falls asleep with her head in Asami’s lap. They land in Zaofu. They don’t talk about it. They don’t talk about it. Korra almost gets kidnapped and they don’t talk about it. Korra sneaks into Asami’s room after guard interrogations and kisses her hard.

“I wanna talk about this.” A short scar above her left eyebrow crinkles as she frowns.

“What is there to talk about?” Asami skims her finger over a scrape on Korra’s neck. Korra visibly suppresses a shiver.

“I just…” She sighs and looks anywhere but Asami’s eyes. “I really like you, and I…I dunno what else there is to talk about.” A small, nervous laugh bubbles from her mouth.

“I really like you too.” Asami smiles. Korra smiles back. “That’s settled then.”

She pauses for a second.

“Neither of us are dating Mako right now, right?”

 

Things happen fast. Within a week, P’li, Ming Hua, and Ghazan are dead, Zaheer is back in prison, and the Avatar has a shattered pelvis and fractures spidering up and down her femurs. She also won’t speak.

Kya and Pema heal her and feed her, but Asami’s always at her side. Mako’s still trying to pick up the pieces of Republic City and Bolin’s eager to help the Earth Kingdom in whatever way he can, so Asami’s the only one Korra’s got. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

Since she’s confined to a wheelchair, Asami helps Korra get ready in the mornings. She can tell that Korra’s embarrassed by needing help with simple tasks like getting in and out of the bath and getting dressed by the way her shoulders curve in and the red tint on her ears but stays silent.

A week after the fight, Asami notices a thick, ropey scar running across Korra’s thigh. It’s even a stretch to call it a scar—it’s still reddish-pink around the edges, only healed over in the center. It can’t be from Red Lotus—she was rushed to Kya and all of her superficial external injuries disappeared.

“Where’d you get this from?” Asami asks, brushing her fingers along Korra’s leg before standing and unfolding a towel from the dresser behind her. She hands it to Korra so she can take off her nightshirt and cover herself before they head off to the baths.

“I got it when I was sparring with Wing. He got me with one of the cords. There was so much blood on my pants I had to throw them away.”  

Asami starts and turns to face her.

“Korra! You…”

“I just needed some time.” Her voice is a raspy near-whisper. “I’ll need a little bit more to get better, but I’ll be fine.”

Asami leans down to Korra's level and kisses her hard on the mouth. The chair rolls back a little and Asami stumbles. Korra laughs for the first time in what feels like years. 

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know if the timeline is confusing but? the first part takes place in the six months between book 1 and book 2, the second directly after book 2 ends, the third during book 3, and the fourth right before the epilogue of book 3  
> EDIT: i attempted to clean up the ending so


End file.
